Suspension training is a form of exercise and physical conditioning wherein a user works against the weight of his/her body, usually by use of grips which each dangle from a respective strap extending from a wall, ceiling, or other nearby structure. To illustrate, a user can grasp the grips and then lean forwardly or backwardly so that the grips and straps suspend (support) the user's body. The user may then push or pull on the grips to work against his/her own weight. As a more specific example, a common suspension training exercise is to grasp the grips and hold them near one's chest, and while keeping one's feet on the ground, lean forward so that one is supported by the grasped grips, and by the straps extending therefrom on the opposite sides of one's body. One may then perform push-ups against the grips, with the degree of resistance that one experiences being dependent on one's own body weight, and the degree to which one leans over (since more of one's weight is distributed to the arms as one leans further over from a fully erect position). Similarly, one can engage his/her feet in the grips (provided the grips are appropriately configured), and can place his/her hands on the ground to perform push-ups, with the height of the grips largely defining the difficulty of the push-ups.
Suspension training has been known for many years, and was initially performed using typical gymnastics rings, i.e., circular rings suspended from straps extending from an overhead bar or the like. However, typical gymnastics rings can be difficult to use for suspension training owing to difficulties in adjusting the strap length (and thus the grip height). Additionally, because typical gymnastics rings need an overhead anchor point for their straps, they typically need high ceilings for use. Thus, a variety of more easily usable suspension training devices has been developed in recent years, including those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,176,602 and 5,556,369 to Roberts; U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,712 to Ferri; U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,640 to Larsson; U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,419 to Rota; U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,354 to Shifferaw; U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,674 to Sjodin; U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,806,814, 7,785,244,7,762,932, 7,722,508, 7,651,448, 7,090,622, and 7,044,896 to Hetrick; and U.S. D343,881 to Wilson. These references illustrate arrangements allowing mounting of suspension training devices in doorways, or to trees or other nearby structure. They additionally illustrate grips which are better adapted for suspension training exercises than conventional rings, and which are also configured to engage a user's feet as well as (or instead of) being engaged by a user's hands. There are also numerous other prior patents and published patent applications which illustrate exercise device grips which are used with (or suitable for use with) straps, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,527 to Ledbetter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,057 to Ciolino, and U.S. D593,167 to Vigilia (grips suited for hands); U.S. Pat. No. 735,065 to Chellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,424 to Macabet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,257 to Lew, U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,773 to Swann, U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,129 to Porter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,119 to Tudor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,609 to Olschansky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,957 to Knight (grips suited for feet); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,874 to Weider, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,671 to Hagerman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,190 to Reiter, and US20090054215 to McBride et al. (grips suited for both hands and feet).
Despite improvements in suspension training devices, many are still difficult and/or inconvenient to use, requiring cumbersome installation and/or removal steps, and having limited ability to be adapted for use in a wide variety of different suspension training exercises.